But it wasn’t so easy to run. The field was packed with fans and vendors and performers.
Abby tripped over a pile of firewood. Doc slammed into a sword-swallower just as the man was about to lower the blade into his gaping mouth.
Abby scrambled to her feet. Doc picked up the sword he’d knocked from the sword-swallower’s hand.
“So what’s the trick?” Doc asked the performer. “Do you actually put the whole—”
“Not now, Doc!” Abby yelled.
“Right,” Doc said, handing back the sword. “Careful with this.”
They took off again, swerving around tents, leaping over campfires. Doc glanced over his shoulder but couldn’t see the judges through the crowd.
“Are they chasing us?” Abby asked.
“I’ll find out!” Doc said.
Beside him, an actor was standing on a box, reciting a passage from the Odyssey in a loud and dramatic voice: “When young rosy-fingered dawn shone once again, the Cyclops lit his fire and—excuse me, young man!”
Doc had just jumped onto the box with the actor.
“Sorry,” Doc said. “I just need to …”
From that height, he could see the judges. They were definitely chasing, clearing their path by knocking over a vendor’s cart, sending fruit flying.
“They’re getting closer!” Doc said.
“Where do we go?” Abby asked.
A tent flap opened, and a girl’s voice whispered,
No time to ask questions—Abby and Doc dove into the tent. The girl crawled outside.
Abby and Doc huddled on the dirt, panting as quietly as they could, listening to the action outside.
The actor continued his performance. “The Cyclops lit his fire and snatched up two more men for his morning’s meal, and then—hey, get off my box!”
“Get off yourself! We’re looking for two thieves!”
That sounded like one of the judges.
“They’ve stolen a branch from the sacred grove of Zeus’s temple!” another judge howled. “They must be thrown off Mount Kronos!”
Then a girl’s voice shouted: “There they go! Heading toward the hills!”
“Toward the hills!” a judge shouted.
“The hills!” the others called.
The actor cleared his throat and resumed. “And then the monster rolled aside the boulder from the opening of the cave …”
The tent flaps opened, and the girl crawled back in.
“They’re gone,” she said.
“Thanks,” Abby said.
“Say nothing of it, my friends.”
The girl was wearing robes, like everyone else in Olympia. But she looked familiar to Doc and Abby.
They’d definitely seen her somewhere. Very recently …
“Um …” Abby said. “Sally?”
Yep, it was Sally—the girl from the library—with a huge grin on her face.
“Very,” Abby said. “What are you doing here?”
“I was jealous!” Sally said. “It just seemed so fun!”
“But how’d you get here?” Doc asked. “You know about the, um … the cardboard …”
Sally laughed. “I’ve always adored the ancient Olympics. I’ve read stacks of books about the games. So how could I resist! You know, the Olympics were so important to the Greeks they called a truce. Enemy cities were always fighting one another, but they actually stopped wars for a few weeks so athletes and fans could travel here safely. It all started when the ruler of Elis asked advice from the oracle of Delphi and—”
“Sally, that’s very interesting,” Abby cut in. “But Amelia Earhart is supposed to take off for Europe very soon.”
“From Canada,” Doc pointed out. “In 1932.”
“We need to get her back there,” Abby said. “And we need to figure out who’s twisting things up. Stop it from happening again.”
“And if we could find my hat,” Doc said, “that would be awesome.”
Sally nodded. “Okay, I’ll help.”
“You shouldn’t even be here,” Doc said.
Sally looked hurt. “It’s lonely at home. I don’t have many friends.”
“Sorry,” Doc said. “We’re glad you came. We’re lucky you did.”
“So what now?” Abby wondered. “We can’t go out there. Especially you, Doc—the judges got a good look at you.”
Doc asked, “Do they really throw people off mountains?”
“Let’s not find out,” Abby suggested.
“I have an idea,” Sally said. “Wait here.”
